Waggy Walks of Sulgrave: Daily dog walking covering Sulgrave and surrounding villages. Regular or occasional walks welcome. Your dog need not be home alone all day, let him/her enjoy a walk with me in our lovely countryside! For more information, pick up the ‘dog and bone’ and contact Claire Sadler on 07990 570034 or 01295 768739 or e-mail Sadler0340@hotmail.com

Thank you to everyone who attended our Compost Give-Away day at Blackpits Recycling Centre on Saturday 11 May - I hope your gardens are enjoying the special treat!

Please note however, that the compost was only available on this date and is not available for free for the remaining Saturdays. It is available to purchase loose at £15.00 per cubic metre + VAT if anyone does want any.

I can be contacted on 07795 624 608 or 01327 706 231 if anyone would like further information.

Regards
Jo

Have found a very pretty children's hat on the road outside house. It is a child's hat and should anyone know who it is missing from, please call Sarah on 01295 760046. Would like to see it back to owner.

For sale.
Vintage Cream painted pine desk. 2 pedestals 3 drawers one side drawer and cupboard the other. Length 1.20cm, Width 55cm, Height 73cm. �75 o.n.o
Small book case pine veneer, Length 80cm, Width 11cm, Height 160cm. 2 adjustable shelves.
Viewing by arrangement. Alan and Rachael Berck-May 01295 768820

I am trying to contact Tim Marshall or indeed anyone with information about Joseph Townsend, clockmaker, Helmdon, around 1700. Many thanks



Gavin Burns 07779528713 or 01780 754117

The Friends of Helmdon Churchyard will be holding a "tidy-up" morning from 10 am to noon on Saturday 18th May and would welcome anyone who would like to help with mowing, strimming and gardening. Please bring your own tools, strimmers and mowers if possible.

Please contact Sue Lidgley (as I shall be on holiday) or just turn up on the day.

Hi all. We would like to set up a yearly cheese and wine tasting in the village. We have many links to the village and thought it would be a nice idea. On the 3rd of May at 7pm we will be bringing some of our finest cheeses and wines to Helmdon. Tickets are available now on the website at brackleywines.co.uk and click on events. For more information please contact us at the deli or email
james.butler@brackleywines.co.uk . In turn we would like to donate 15% of our profits on wines to your chosen charity and 10% on cheeses. If you have a local charity then please can you pass on the details. Thanks
POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

We should like to thank the Luncheon Club and the Cafe for their contributions towards Judith's Memorial Oak Seat at the Acorns Pre-School Nursery, and also the ladies who gave their time and ideas for the Raffle, which raised £160. Thank you again.

Can anyone remember the snow in 1947,much worse than this we have now , no school for three weeks,well into April.

Roll up .... Roll Up! The Circus is coming to Middleton Cheney!
Professional Happy’s Circus Wed. 17th April at Chenderit School Gates open 5pm. Show at 6pm.

Before the main show there will be hot food, a bar, refreshments, stalls, face painting, temporary tattoos, ice creams and more. The Circus will delight you with Crazy clowns, magical illusions, daring aerialists and other speciality acts. Modern circus with no animals. Bring the kids!

Tickets available at £5 (child), £8 (adult) and Family tickets at £25 (2 adults, 2 children) Under 2’s free if sat on lap. Available from www.wegottickets.com/CPSA or from Culworth School
All profits to Culworth School

Email cpsa.culworth@gmail.com or call 07957 405709 for further details

Hello,

On 23rd April I will be hosting an even for World Book Night 2013! I will be giving away free copies of Bernhard Schlinks "The Reader" but as there is only a limited number of books they will be given away on a first-come-first-serve basis so be sure to arrive in time to pick one up!

It will be held at 75 Wappenham Road between 7 and 9pm.

There will also be a Book Swap shelf so make sure you remember to bring a book to exchange for something new!

Wine and nibbles will be on offer and if you would like to bring a bottle that would be greatly appreciated.

Everyone is welcome and I look forward to seeing you all there!

Maddi Barnes

FOR SALE: House dog gate £25, large dog cage £40. Tel: (01295) 760172

Thank you for your information Ross. I had a message from Danny suggesting that because The Holte family(Birmingham) owned the manor of Helmdon that's where there could be a connection. I was going to investigate but on seeing your note I looked up Elmdon Hall with it's pictures and I agree with you.
Best wishes, Maureen

The title of the engraving 'Helmdon Hall' is probably a mistake - the engraving is all probability 'Elmdon Hall' near Birmingham Airport. Some more information on Elmdon village and the Hall can be found here

http://www.solihull.gov.uk/localhistory/16373.htm

Elmdon Hall was once the home of the 'Spooner' family after one of whom (Rev. William Archibald Spooner) comes the term 'Spoonerism'.

I have come across an old engraving, published in Birmingham of HELMDON HALL. I wondered please if anyone might know anything about this house? Many thanks

Thanks for the clarification, but I suspect that the butterflies will have been frightened away. In fact, if anyone can show me one of these rare butterflies in the cutting in the next 3 years I will put £20 behind the bar at the Bell for the first person going in to laugh at me. By that time it should still be possible to buy a pint for £20.

Hi Chris,

Not sure if your request for enlightenment was tongue in cheek or serious, but just in case it was serious I think I might be able to help...

The SSSI was first designated because of the presence of rare butterflies and some particular flowers that are found only on calcareous grassland. The habitat was created during the construction of the railway cutting, which exposed the chalk sub soil. The overscrubbing that has occurred in the past twenty years is disadvantageous to those flowers and butterflies, so although the scrub undoubtedly provides a habitat of its own, it is not the habitat for which the site was designated. Natural England has a statutory duty to manage designated sites in a way that protects their designation � hence out with the scrub and in, hopefully, with a grazed sward that promotes the (re)establishment of the special flowers and butterflies. Whether this will be achieved after the current works remains to be seen� it might be that the butterfly populations have dwindled so low that they cannot recover. A survey of the current butterfly population is the next step on Natural England's published site management plan.

Can someone explain to me how the work at the railway cutting will help to maintain the SSSI environment for plants and butterflies when the work seems to have totally destroyed the environment that was there at the start?

Our apologies to anyone who tried to access the Helmdon web site last week and was unable to. Our service provider had a technical meltdown so it was beyond our control. Normal service was resumed on Thursday evening and it's business as usual one again.

Whilst I'm on, many thanks to all our supporters and readers of the web site. It is a labour of love but it makes it worthwhile to know that the web site is used, valued and appreciated.

Message for Simon Harris. I co ordinate
the Acre oil syndicate. Call Me for info
760744